Mistaken For Dead
by TribalGirl
Summary: My ending to Hetalia World Series 39, when Italy gets shot into the sky with a car and Germany thinks he's dead. Tried to keep it as canon and IC as possible. GerIta I guess. -Yes, that is the name of a trope in the title. TV TROPES FTW!


**In World Series ep. 39, Italy gets shot from a car into the sky and Germany freaks out, completely, so I decided to write an ending to it. I've seen it done before, but not very realistically, so this is my take on it, while trying to keep it more canon.**

**Oh, btw, in the anime it mentions he was picked up after maybe half an hour by some random passersby, but I decided to have it Germany just cause.**

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"Germany..."

Italy was not in the best of situations right now. He was covered in scratches and bruises from excess contact at high speeds with a lot of unduly sharp tree branches, he was literally hanging by the seat of his pats from one of said tree branches, and the ground looked hard and unforgiving and very far off. All in all, he'd been in better places before.

"Germany... help..." Italy wished he could shout, but he was too bruised and tired, and the unfortunate position he was in meant that his lung capacity was rather severely diminished.

Then he heard footsteps crunching on the leaves. was it...

Below him, Germany entered his line of sight, trudging through the forest. He didn't look good. His shoulders were slumped, his head was down, and he looked extremely tired.

"Germany!"

Germany looked up, then moved faster than Italy had ever seen him. Within seconds he'd scaled the tree and crawled along the branch, arms reaching out and working Italy's uniform free of the rough bark.

"Thanks, Germany -" Italy let out a light laugh. "You really didn't have to do this, you know."

Germany didn't reply, but wrapped an arm around Italy and began descent of the trunk.

Italy squirmed nervously. "Ve - I can climb down by myself, you know."

Still no answer. They reached the bottom, and Germany deposited Italy on the leaf-covered floor, still avoiding eye contact.

"Germany? Is something wrong?"

"Don't ever do that again."

Italy flinched at the anger in Germany's voice. The other nation was glaring at the forest floor, turned to the side so Italy could only see his profile. "Umm... do what?"

"Make me worry like that!" Germany rounded on Italy, who had to take a step back from the intensity in those blue eyes. "Do you have any idea what you just put me through? You should be more careful!"

Italy shifted nervously from foot to foot. Granted, he's heard this lecture before - many times, actually - but it was always in a tired and exasperated tone, accompanied by a sigh. Not like this, in blazing anger and something else behind the anger, something Italy couldn't quite define...

"Um... Don't you keep saying I make you worry all the time? So why is this any different?"

"The other times, you were never in any real mortal danger, and I was always able to rescue you. This time -" Germany's fist clenched. "I thought you'd died!" Behind him, several birds took flight in alarm from the force of his yell.

"You thought I'd... died?" Italy couldn't quite comprehend that. "But it was just an ejector seat..."

"I saw you go shooting up into the sky and didn't see you come down again, what did you expect me to think?" snapped Germany. "I really thought I'd just seen your last moments alive. And that's why you need to be more careful! I'm not going to put up with you nearly giving me a heart attack every time you do something stupid!"

"Stupid?" Italy repeated, feeling himself shrink slightly.

Germany sighed and turned away. "Not stupid, I didn't mean that. Just..." His gaze softened ever so slightly. "I was worried, ja? Don't get in trouble like that again." He sighed once more. "Although knowing you, you're not going to follow that advice..."

"Are you still angry at me?" Italy asked, feeling that the worst was over, but still needing to check.

"Angry?" Germany turned back to Italy, several indistinguishable emotions crossing his face. "I -" His features contorted oddly, and the next moment he did something that took Italy totally by surprise: he leaned forward and wrapped both arms around him in what was effectively a genuine hug. Italy was frozen to the spit, because Germany never hugged. Ever. It just wasn't something he did - and yet here he was, crushing him almost, his hands pressed into Italy's back.

"I thought you'd died." Germany repeated the words into Italy's hair, his voice catching slightly. Before Italy could return the hug and tell him it was all right, he was fine, he was alive - before he could move, Germany released him suddenly and moved quickly away, his face a shade of red that could light up a room. "Ah - I -" He coughed and looked away. "Come on, we have training to get back to." He looked back at Italy, and his face was as stern as ever once again. "And never, ever, ever make me worry like that again, you hear?"

Italy was ready to go home; he was tired and needed a few bandages - but he noticed, while being led through the forest, that Germany was still tightly gripping his hand as though he never wanted to let go.

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**Wow. And there was me thinking I'd try to keep their relationship as close to canon as possible, and instead, moar OOC fluff. Anyway, please review!**


End file.
